Taylor's Pressing Detail

Top Pick Arrives In New York, Signs With Yankees

Taylor Sees Some Major Differences

NEW YORK -- Gene Michael, who has been around baseball awhile, said he had never seen so many cameras.

From the look in Brien Taylor's eyes, which might have blinked once in a half hour, it appeared he hadn't seen so many, either.

Welcome to Yankee Stadium and the media capital of the world.

"This is quite a shock to me," said Taylor, 19, a left-handed pitcher who grew up in small Beaufort, N.C., honing his 98-mph fastball. "I don't know what to say."

The contract said enough. Taylor, the object of the media's attention, made his first appearance as a Yankee moments after he signed an unprecedented $1.55 million deal as the No. 1 draft pick in June. It is the largest contract an amateur baseball player has signed.

Apparently, the details took longer than the Yankees expected because the news conference was delayed 90 minutes. But when they finally paraded in -- Taylor, his mother Bettie, father Ray and adviser Scott Boras -- any hard feelings about the very difficult negotiations appeared over.

"I'm as happy as I can be," said Taylor, who held up a Yankees uniform. It was No. 19 -- Dave Righetti's old jersey. Righetti's name was on the inside collar.

Taylor, a rather unassuming teenager, didn't participate in the haggling. His mother and Boras held out until the last moment -- hours before Taylor would have attended his first class at Louisburg (N.C.) Junior College.

The problem in the negotiations was the Taylors' demand for a "Van Poppel" contract, a deal similar to that signed last year with Oakland by Todd Van Poppel, also a left-handed pitcher. Van Poppel signed a major league contract for $1.2 million, requiring the A's to place him on the 40-man roster and 15-man expansion protected list.

The Yankees didn't want to give the major league contract. And they didn't.

"Once they got off the big league contract, we weren't afraid to talk Van Poppel money," said Michael, the Yankees' general

manager.

For dropping that proviso Sunday, the Yankees increased the offer considerably and reached an agreement.

"We bought a talent," said Michael, who appeared more than relieved the negotiations were over.

"We don't want the No. 1 pick anymore," he said. Michael meant he didn't want the Yankees to finish last again, thus earning the top pick. But he might just as well have said he didn't want to go through the negotiations again.

So how long will it take that talent to show up in Yankee Stadium? Taylor has his own schedule.

"I don't know how long it takes," Taylor said. "I want to make it in less than three years."

Michael isn't counting on it. "He may be there in two, may be there in three, may be there in four," he said. "We bought time."

Taylor will go to the Instructional League in Tampa, Fla., in September and is likely to start next season at Greensboro, N.C., in the Class A South Atlantic League.

Wednesday, he met some of the Yankees, walked the field at Yankee Stadium and got a feel for what the major leagues are like.

One thing's for sure, New York isn't much like Beaufort.

"It was quite amazing," said Taylor, who has no idea -- beyond buying a car -- what he will do with the money. "I'm used to fields with just a little fence around it and no big things like this. When I first came in [to the Stadium],it was amazing. I stopped and looked and heard people hollering and screaming at me and trying to intimidate me. It kind of made me stop at the door before I came in."